Switch-operating mechanism.



C. H. RATLIFF.

SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19. I916.

1,210,38. Patented Jan. 2,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEQ I.

C. H.'RATLIFF.

SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. l9, I916.

Patented J an. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- be actuated by a motormflan- 'mit s the car to passCLAUDEHENBY Remit 9 re ser ir-eases- SWIrGH-QR B NG, immensel-Specification of Application filed April 19,

To all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, CLAUDE H. RATLIFF, acitizen of, the United States, residing at Plateau, in the county ofMobile and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in, Switch-Operating Mechanisms; ofwhich the followingji's'a Specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

This inventionrrelatesto mechanism for operating switches andparticularly a mechanism' for operating switches on street carorinterurbanl lines. I

The general object of theinvention is the provision of a very Simpleswitch point operating mechanism so arrangedthat it may on a car.operatthrow 1 the ingjin eitherfdirection so asfto switchandhfurtliersof arranged .lthat cars may, pass through 'point'retnrn'ing. to its setposition afterthe cars havepa'ssed through;

the switch, the switch A further object of'the invention is theprovision (of f a :very simple mechanism mountednpon the car which isadapted 'to positively engage with a f sw'tch operating wheel and rotateit.

Another-object is to provide means which may be applied to ordinaryswitch points without change, whereby the switch points may be thrown byan approaching car.

Other objects will appear in the course of the .following description! iThe inventionis illustrated in the accompanyingldrawings in which, i-Figure 1 is atop plan view of my switch operating mechanisme'Fig. 2 isa section on the line2+2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a plan view showing themanner in which a jointed shaft 20*? may. be used in; place'of theshaft20; Fig. 4: is a sideelevation ofthe tracksection shown in Fig. 1;" Fig.5 is across section through the platform of a car and through the railsshowing the switchbpcrating mechanism; Fig. 6 is a" sectional view of aslotted rail'showing a modified manner of arranging the switch operatingwheel; and Fig.17'is a top plan view of the constructionshown in FignG;Referring to these drawings, A designates aline of track, while'Bdesignates abr'anch track. L=The railwcarries'the' switch' point 1 0which, when thrown in one directiom'perp from or'on to the branch trackand which when thrown inith'e other direction, permits passagealongcthe' main hetters r t t. Patented J an. 2,

12216. SeriallNo.92,240.

Attached to theswitch point in any track.

an outwardly extending suitable manner, is

rod 11, this jrod being preferably attached to the switch point by theeye bolt 12 so that the rod may have a slight pivotal movement. A switch7 operating bar 13 is provided, formed at one end with an angularextension 14, perforated for thejpassage of the rod 11. The rod 11 atoneend isformed with a head 15 and distanced from this head is a collar16 and disposed between the collar 16 and the angularp'ortion 1450f. theswitch operating rod andclbietween the'switch operating rod and the head15, are :the coil springs 17 which have strength enough to resistordinary compression, so that under normal circumstances,-the 'rod 11will move withthe actuatingrod13. The actuating rod ,13 atits outer endeccentric sleeve orjring 18 operating within which is an eccentric 19.,This eccentric is mounted upon a shaft 20 which extends lon-'gitudinally of the track and. is mounted in suitable bearingsfl21.

The shafto20 extends longitudinally of the track, as before "stated, toa position any desired distance in advance ofthe switch point,10 andcarries upon it a' bevel gear wheel .22." Disposed beside the track andmounted in any suitable bearings, is a short shaft 23 which carries uponit a bevel gear wheel"24c, which meshes with the bevel gear wheel 22.This bevel gear wheel 2a is provided with the radially projecting arms25 which are villustratedas'four in number. It will be noted" that thegear wheel '24 has twice the diameter of the gear wheel 22 so that aquarter rotation of the gear wheel 2a will cause a one-half rotation ofthe shaft 20. Mounted upon each platfrom of the car C is a lever 26.There may be one or more of these levers, as desired, and I haveillustrated two in. Fig. '5. Each lever is attached to "a rock shaft 27mounted in bearings on the platformothe lever'passing up through aslot28in the'platform.. Depending from 'the'robk shaft'is the arm 26 of thelever which'jat its lower end is laterally deflected and has 'itsextre'mit'y angularly bent as at 29. Operatively supported on the lowerend of the arm26 of; thev lever is a flanged wheel 30 adapted to runalong the rail a while .the deflected extremity 29 of the lever projectsin a po'sition to engage with one of .thearms" l25 ofzthegear Wheel124.As illusitratd'in Figs. 6 and? 7 ,i the rail121 may be terminates in anlongitudinally chambered and slotted, as at rotate the Wheel 24.

31, and the wheel 24 may be disposed in this chamber, its arms extendinginto the slot so that the deflected lower end of the lever may extendthrough this slot the wheel 24* being so disposed that the arms 25 willoperate in this slot. Thus the lower terminal end of the lever one ofthe upwardly projecting arms 25 to It is to be understood, of course,that the arms 25 are so disposed and the parts are so adjusted that thearms will extend at an angle of about 45 degrees to the rail and so thatwhen the terminal end of the lever engages with these arms, they willrotate the wheel 24 through a quarter revolution. Preferably a sectorrack 32 is provided over which the lever operates, the lever beingprovided witha pawl engaging with this rack so that the lever may beheld in either its depressed or raised position. In one position of thelever, the terminal end of the lever and the wheel 30 will be raisedcompletely-from the track. In another position of the lever, however,thewheel 30 will rest upon the track, while the terminal end'29 willproject below the rail; in positionto engage one of the arms 25..'Preferably, in order to secure a solid bearing for the shaft 23 andthewheel 24, I provide a block'33 adapted to be disposed betweenthe baseand head of the rail and through which the shaft 23 passes and againstwhich the wheel 24 operates. Preferably, also, the eccentric rod 13operates over a wear plate 34.

It is to be understood that the eccentric has a diameter sufiicient tocause the opening of the switch point 10 when the shaft is r0- tatedone-half a revolution in one direction and close the switch point whenthe shaft is rotated the next one-half revolution in the same direction.

The operation of the device will be obvious from what has gone before.

When a car approaches the switch, (the car moving toward the point ofthe switch) the motorman if he desires to shift the switch will depressthe lever so that it will positively engage with one of the arms 25.This will rotate the bevel gear wheel 24 through a one-fourth revolutiongiving a one-half revolution to the shaft 20 and to theeccentric. If theswitch point 10 be closed against the main rail, then the rotation ofthe shaft 20 and eccentric will cause the switch point to open to theposition shown in Fig. 1. Under these circumstances the car will beshifted onto the side track. If, however, the switch point be open tothe side track, and'the car approaches desiring to pass along the maintrack, then a rotation of the gear wheel 24 will give a reverse movementof the switch point. Of course, if the car does not desire will be sureto engage ju'sted upon the be, made up of sections 20 havin trated inFig. '3 is that illustrated in Fig. 1,"n-amely, a wheel rying a bevelgear 22 to approach the switch point, the motorman does not depress ordispose the lever in an operative position.

Inasmuch as the switch point is mounted for movement independent of theactuating rod 13, it is obvious that a car approaching on the branchline and desiring to pass on the main line, can do so, the car wheelsimply pushing the point open and running through the point. the carapproaches the switch on the main line and the switch is open,then theflange of the wheel will not push the switch point closed and the carwill move along and after it has passed the switch point, will again beshifted to its open position. The eccentric sleeve or'ring is made intwoparts as usual, so that if the switch works too easily, the two sectionsof the eccentric sleeve or strapmay be turned more tightly on theeccentric by means of the bolts 19. It is also obvious that the gearWheel 24 can be readily ad shaft 23 so as to secure a proper timing ofthe several parts. Preferably, on each platform, there will be twolevers 26 mounted upon the rock'shaft 27 so that switches on either sideof the track may be thrown. It is obvious, however, that the switchmechanism can beso arranged that a switch on one side of the track willbe thrown by a gear wheel 24 mounted on the opposite side of the tracksothat thus the gear wheels 24 may all be'arranged on the same side ofthe switches been opposite sides.

The operating mechanism of the switch is intended to be protected by ametallic housing, while theshaft 20 will preferably pass through atubular housing 34. It is obvious that the particular character of thehousing is no part of my present invention.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the shaft 20 might versal joint connectionwith each ot so that the shaft could shift around a curve and permit thepositive operationof the switch point by a car passing around a curve.The operating mechanism illusprecisely the same as 24 provided withradiating arms and carbevel gear wheel on' the first shaft section.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with'a' switch point,

of a switch rod extending therefrom, a shaft.

extending longitudinally ofthe' track, in advance of the switch point,an eccentric mounted on the shaft,a' sleeve surrounding the eccentric,an eccentric bar extending from' the sleeve, having loose connectionwith the switch rod, springsv surrounding the-switch 'rodand centric barand resisting independent move- If, on the'other hand,

track, even though the a unier,"each section operating in a suitablebearing 21 bearing against the 'ecmeshing with the ment of the switchrod with relation to the bar a bevel gear wheel carried upon the shaft,a bevel gear wheel disposed in a plane parallel to the track, andengaging the first named bevel gear wheel, and radially dis posed armsprojecting from the second bevel gear wheel and adapted to be engaged byswitch operating mechanism on a car.

2. The combination with a track including a switch point, of a shaftextending longitudinally of the track, a rotatable member on the shaftoperatively engaging the switch point, whereby a half rotation of theshaft will oscillate the switch point from one operating position toanother, a bevel gear Copies of this patent may be obtained for fivecents each, by addressing the wheel on the shaft, a bevel gear wheel disposed in a plane parallel to the track and engaging the first namedbevel gear wheel and having a diameter twice as great as that of thefirst named bevel gear wheel, and arms extending radially from thesecond named gear wheel adapted to be engaged by an operating member ona car.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

CLAUDE HENRY RATLIFF.

Witnesses H. S. ALDRIDGE, M. V. DRUMMOND.

Commissioner of ratontsr Washington, D. G.

